Hours and Hours and Hours... The Wee Ones

I messed with a few different types of edgings for the Lizard Ridge, and ultimately settled on an applied i-cord. It's visually strong enough to provide a good frame for the riot of colours, and is somehow less tedious than picking up stitches.

Or so I thought... turns out that applied i-cord is slow going. It's ok, I find it very simple and soothing, it doesn't require any attention, but it's slow. I estimated about 8 hours to complete the full edge at the pace I was working.

As to the soothing bit, it's a good thing.

Ever feel the urge to stay up into the wee hours to work on a project?

We experienced a major flooding incident due to a burst pipe last night. A mystery burst pipe. That leaked at 45 minute -1 hour intervals. From above our bathroom, over the hall closet and into the basement. We sat around, quite literally all night, with a plumber, the superintendent and the building manager, waiting until the next wave of flood started. I got lots and lots and lots of the edging completed.

They soldered the hole in the pipe about 8:30am this morning. We are now waiting for the cleanup crew to arrive.

I'm making excellent progress on the edging.

Sewn Up!

The photo does not do the colours justice. It's stunning. Am now considering my edging strategy....


Not sure I love the crochet. I've seen a very successful garter stitch edging...

I'M ON UR BLANKIT

MESSIN UP UR KNITTIN

If you have no idea what this is about, see icanhascheezburger.com)

On Fleece Artist and Handmaiden

I love the Fleece Artist and Handmaiden yarns. Love them to distraction. They produce beautiful yarns in tremendous colourways with interesting and innnovative fibres. Can't recommended them highly enough.

And their designs are great -- simple and elegant shapes and ideas, executed well in their variegated and multicoloured yarns. Lovely.

But I do wish they'd hire a technical editor for their patterns. They're poorly written, and I've encountered mistakes, and I believe they are doing themselves a serious misservice.

Even this latest one I'm working on, Jane, written by someone else, isn't great. There aren't any mistakes that I have found, but it's not at all "user friendly". No gauge is given, no dimensions or details for sizing. The only reason I knew which size to make was because there was a sample in my local shop that I was able to try on.

Mistakes do happen, typos creep into printed patterns. It's happened to me, I'll cheerfully admit it. But my complaint isn't about typos, it is about patterns that are misssing key information, or are too vague or brief in their instructions. I mention Jane, but this is pretty typical for their patterns. Now, it doesn't matter so much if there isn't a gauge or schematic or sizing information for a scarf, but it matters a lot for a sweater.

And their sock and mitten patterns frustrate me to no end. They suggest using 2 short circulars to work in the round -- which is fair enough, it's a technique that I know some people love and have good success with, even if it's fairly unusual. My complaint is that they give no guidance for this technique, and the pattern is written in such a way that if you wish to convert it to use DPNs or a single 12" circular, you would have difficulty. I also found out-and-out mistakes in a sock pattern of theirs from a couple of years ago -- I don't know if it's been since caught and fixed -- but if you'd never knitted a sock before, you'd have been pretty lost. And I know other knitted have been frustrated with a mitten/sock pattern kit, which is ambigious about whether it kit produces a pair of either, or a pair of both.

Their patterns are written in a very informal, almost conversational style -- which can be good for novices. And I appreciate their attempt to keep the pattern instructions concise. I know that overly long, overly detailed instructions can be intimidating.

But as any writer will tell you, it's much harder to convey precise instructions in a casual and concise style. And like cooking, your chances of success are much higher if the instructions are precise and accurate.

It is just me? Has anyone else had difficulty?

(On the topic of Jane specifically, there are a couple of adjustments I'd make to the pattern to make it easier to work. I'd highly recommend using a provisional cast-on to start, to save having to unpick your cast-on later. And I'd work the sleeves in the round, too. Even less finishing! But there are adjustments you can easily make on the fly.)

Buttered Toast

After all that fuss with the socks, I decided I needed a break. Back to the knitting equivalent of buttered toast: easy, comforting, quick, needs no special equipment or materials -- a big square of stocking stitch.


I do love toast, and sometimes you need some.

Specifically, the big square of stocking stitch is the back of the Fleece Artist Jane sweater, from the back. (It's designed by Perl Grey, FYI.)

I picked the project because it intrigued me. The shaping and construction and unlike anything I've ever seen before, and I love that sort of thing. The sweater is knit in one piece. You cast on at the left side of the back, and work across the the back - sideways! Then you continue the sleeves from the top half of the back stitches, and the wrap-around fronts from the bottom half of the back stitches. Worked all in one piece, very little finishing -- I like it!

I finished up the back, and have just started the first sleeve.

Lovely apple green colour, easy knitting, quick knitting, nice yarn. Mmmm.... toast.

On Fitting a Sock

Wow. I have had my butt kicked by a pair of socks. I'm working on a design project right now, with the ultimate goal of publication. A simple pair of socks, no problem. I'm good at socks. Have designed tons. I know the yarns well, I have various techniques in my repetoire. No problem, I thought.

I found a cool stitch pattern in an old, out of print, knitting book. A cool stitch pattern that would highlight the subtle striping in the chosen yarn. A simple but interesting repeat. Seemed ideal. It even had "rib" in the name. No problem. I've made plain socks, ribbed socks, cable socks, lace socks -- all sorts of socks. I am a sock goddess.

The sock goddess had her butt kicked.

What it came down to is that that the stitch pattern I chose simply wasn't stretchy enough. Yes, absolutely, it fit my leg very well. Too well. A perfect fit around the leg meant that the fabric didn't stretch enough to go over my heel. And if I added sttiches to the pattern repeat, the leg was too loose -- and I don't want slouch. Blocking didn't help -- it took out what little bounce-back there in the stich pattern. It drove me mad. I worked an entire leg of the sock in two different variations of the pattern, blocked, used foul language, changed needle sizes -- none of which helped me in the least.

Until this, I hadn't honestly spent much time considering the stretch factor in a sock fabric. Every stitch pattern, every fabric I created (ok, except for a couple of fair isle pairs dating back to my early colour experiments) naturally had enough stretch. Some socks were slouchier than others, but I'd never run into this problem before.

Lesson learnt.

I ultimately found a substitute pattern that I'm happy with, so this story will have a happy ending. But it hasn't been a happy process, I have to say.

An Ideal Commuting Project

We had a great discussion in a recent class about commute knitting....

I always have knitting with me for my commute. Some projects are better than others for commuting.

The first thing to consider is how long your commute is, and what your surroundings are like. Are you typically sitting still in one place/on one vehicle for a long time? Do you have to change bus/train/vehicle midway through the trip? How much elbow room do you typically have? Is the ride smooth? Do you have big bag(s) with you?

Me, I have about 20 minutes total on the streetcar (a.k.a. tram), with no changes. I usually get a seat the stop after I get on, which gives me a good 15 minutes for knitting.

First things first, I make sure that my commute project is small. Whether a sock or a lightweight scarf or a Lizard Ridge square or the sleeve of a sweater, I make sure that my knitting bag fits into my work bag. And I make sure that it's self-contained... I tend to work on things that don't require me to look at a pattern -- at all, or very often at least. In the case of socks and a lot of lace knitting, I will condense the key info on a small piece of cardboard that I safety pin to the knitting. Not only is it cumbersome to carry around a pattern, it's difficult to keep it handy for reference.

Here's my latest commute project: a black alpaca lace shawl. This is ideal commute knitting for several reasons: the laceweight yarn means that I've got tons of knitting in a very small ball of yarn. The fine gauge also means that progress is slow, so it will keep me going for several weeks' worth of commutes. And black lace requires more attention that my average project, so it keeps me very engaged and entertained. The pattern repeat is simple enough to memorize, but also to capture in two short lines in case I do need to refer to it. I've written it out on a piece of card, and safety-pinned it to the bag. I've also got spare stitch markers safety-pinned to the bag.

The safety pin is probably the most important portable knitting tool. I always have one or two with me. You can use them to attach your pattern notes to your work, as markers, and also for marking mistakes or rescuing dropped stitches that you need to deal with when you get home.

The bag itself is worth noting... it's a small nylon bag with a drawstring. It came with the headset for my office phone -- no idea why -- and it's ideal for carrying knitting. You need a bag that won't develop holes, and that has a closure. Knowknits also makes terrific portable knitting bags, but for throwing in my purse, I prefer this one. The Knowknits GoKnit Pouches have great little loops of nylon with snaps that allow you to attach your project to a bag strap or a belt loop -- but I find those and the closure toggles mean that they're a bit bulky for stuffing in my purse. They're great for when you have a larger bag, or when you're going to be knitting standing up, or walking around.

Similar rules apply for air travel knitting, with two major exceptions.

First, the equipment: Although the TSA has approved all knitting needles for air travel, I find that what is actually permitted on a flight is at the discretion of the security agents inspecting you and your baggage. The first rule is not to ask -- chances are, the security agent you speak to isn't a knitter, and therefore tends to think of needles as sharp and dangerous. I always take plastic, wood or bamboo needles for air travel and just send them through the x-ray machine. I've never been stopped or questioned about them. And as for commuting, I keep a minimal kit with me: the yarn, project, a condensed version of the pattern, a couple of safety pins, and if required, my plastic yarn needle. (It's a Susan Bates "Crystalite".)

And since I'm likely to be sitting for much longer periods of time, I tend to choose a more complex project for longer trips. After all, there will be little to distract me, and I'll be able to lay a pattern sheet out on my tray table or lap. Whether it's a travel project or not, I always photocopy my pattern instructions and carry them with me in a plastic sheet protector. I leave the book and magazine at home, protected from coffee spills. I can make notes and marks all over the photocopy of the pattern, and I only have to carry around the key pages. (Key caution: make sure you have all the instructions and pattern information with you... I ended up making a major mistake on my Pimlico because I was missing the photo.)

Of course, my favourite travel knitting tool is my Creative Zen digital music player... Just because I'm not reading a book doesn't mean I want to chit-chat....

On My Way

Black Lace. It's going ok, actually.

Especially because I seem to have forgotten my own advice about using a lifeline.


It's an easy pattern repeat to memorize -- and, more importantly, to spot mistakes in.

Meme: My KnitList

I wasn't specifically tagged for this, but found it a thought provoking exercise.

Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket (baby)
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

My Own Personal Everest

I've decided I'm ready. I'm going to knit a lace shawl in black.

Lace Wings, as it's very straightforward. The yarn I've chosen is Misti Alpaca Lace.

Of course, I should probably get the Swallowtail done first. I've decided, after much thinking and math and listening to the sensible words of a commenter, that I'm going to work it as the pattern dictates. And if I've got tons of Sea Silk leftover then perhaps a narrow rectangular lace scarf might be nice, and would make a terrific commuting project.

Another Reason to Swatch

I'm working on the Swallowtail Shawl from last fall's IK. Very nearly done now, it's coming out nicely, and I'm getting lots of compliments on it. I chose Seasilk in a lovely green colour, and the "budding lace" is entirely reminiscent of leaves. I hope that the leaf effect remains after blocking.


The Lily of the Valley Border, though, it's been a bit of a problem. The chart's perfect, it looks great, and ultimately it's actually pretty interesting to work. But it's a challlenge. The nupps. As I remarked to Megan the other day... "Nupp? Sounds like f***."

It was oddly hard to wrap my brain around the pattern -- and it didn't become obvious until I'd worked a good 12 or 14 rows. And at 220+ sts each, that was a fair bit of knitting. And a fair bit of dangerous knitting, at that... I'd already moved my lifeline up when I realized that I'd not quite got the grasp of it, and realized that a correction I'd made for a missed yo (below the lifeline) wasn't quite the right thing to do.

If I'd taken the time to swatch the lace pattern in advance, I would have understood it before I began, and would have significantly reduced the risk of error, and the possible effects of a poor mistake correction. Will it look ok after blocking?

... There's a small quiet voice in my head suggesting that maybe I should rip back the border and make sure it's right.

On a related topic, I'm a bit surprised/befuddled about the yarn usage. There's 400 or so m in the Seasilk, and reading other blogs I was left with the impression that this pattern uses up almost the entire ball...


Now I know it's hard to tell, because the later rows have more stitches, but I have more than a third of a ball left over before the final 16 rows.

So, three options occur to me:
1) Work as the pattern dictates and be done with it, not worrying about the yarn leftovers
2) Add a third repeat of the Lily of the Valley inner border
3) Rip back the 2 repeats of the Lily of the Valley inner border I've already worked, and work a few more repeats of the budding lace before redoing (correctly and with full confidence) the Lily of the Valley border

Hmmm...

I did a bit of research online, and at least one knitter has chosen my second option, adding a third repeat of the Lily of the Valley. I'm not sure it works for me... it seems to disrupt the balance between the two borders... there's a golden ratio going on between the width of the Lily inner border and the peaked outer border, I think.

So, #1 or #3? Perhaps the leftover yarn is the knitting gods way of telling me that I should rip back...

Disrupting Friday Night Dinner...

M. and R. tracked my progress with LR all through the fall and early winter, and had recently asked me what was going on with it.

So I brought all the blocked squares over for dinner last Friday. After the cake and tea, we pushed the dishes aside and laid all the squares out on the table.


And we played LR-tetris. "No, not there, that's too close to another dark one."

"How about this orangey-one here, to set off the grey?"


After much swapping and changing and standing on chairs to get a better view, we got it.

We carefully labelled the pieces, while M. played documetary photographer.


So, all I have to do now is the actual sewing....

Clapotis Mark II is Done

Jitterbug Bright Charcoal gets a 10/10 for Clapotis-suitability.

Compare and contrast the aran-weight Sarubia version with the sock-yarn version. (I did do two extra repeats in the straight section for the Jitterbug version so it's not quite a fair comparision.)

Product vs. Process

There are people who knit to produce -- to create something, to wear, to display, to make a statement, to give as a gift.

There are others among us who knit for the process. I'm one of these. I will cheerfully spend hours creating something without a single thought to who will wear it -- or indeed whether it would ever be worn at all.

Designers, I think, have to be process knitters. Or at least those who knit their own samples. I've knitted all sorts of things that will never be worn by anyone -- store samples, samples for photography and the like. I've also knitted things that I've immediately taken apart -- design ideas that didn't work.

I've knitted many things for the sake of it, because the technique or construction has interested me. Toe socks. Thrummed mittens. And notably, lace. Those who know me well know that I'm not a lacy sort of girl, but I love knitting lace. My very first lace project I gave away, but others languish at home, collecting dust. I occasionally use the Highland shawl as a wrap when I'm watching TV, and the cat has taken to sitting on it. The cat's paw shawl sometimes goes with me to class to show off the technique. I will, I'm quite sure, continue to knit lace and will continue to struggle with what to do with the output.

(In fact, I've just started the Swallowtail shawl from last fall's Interweave mag in Sea Silk, just because I wanted something different. Looks nice. Anyone willing to bet whether I'll ever actually wear it?)

And then there's the Elizabeth Zimmerman Ribwarmer. I've knitted the damn thing twice, in two different yarns. In both cases, it was no more than a couple of days before I undid the entire thing. It's a great design -- all short row garter stitch, in one piece, lots of corners and cleverness. But, dare I say, it's kinda ugly and ill-fitting. At least on me. Maybe if I was shaped a bit differently? The first time I knitted it, about 12 or 13 years ago, I used a great long-discontinued purple tweedy shade of Galway.. Now, fashions were different then, and a cropped fit vest wasn't really in tune with the rest of my wardrobe.

As styles changed, and as I acquired a bag full of Noro Sarubia in a trade, I thought that the Ribwarmer would be a good idea. Nope. Once again, loved the process, but hated the result. With any other yarn, I probably would have given it away, or kept it as a sample -- but I ripped it out almost immediately and the yarn was repurposed to a happier end.

There are, absolutely, times when I will knit something because I want to wear the result -- Handmaiden's Jane is currently on my needles, and I'm dying to wear it. But for the most part, I'm a process knitter.

It's clear that it's possible to enjoy both process and product knitting, but I have to wonder if people lean more strongly towards one or the other? Does it change as a knitter gets more skilled, more experienced?

Considering Placement

Nathan the Cat helps me consider the placement of my squares for Lizard Ridge...


I am all blocked, and the styrofoam has been retired. It was a brilliant solution, if I do say so myself. The squares dried quickly because of the big open space, and the styrofoam withstood 24 pinnings-and-unpinnings with no complaints.

Clapperbug?

Nice, eh?

Looks like it will only take two skeins of the Jitterbug to complete my Clapotis v2007. Which means I'm going to have to knit a pair of socks with the third skein. Does anyone else have socks to match their Clapotis? Surely I'm not the only one.

And Amy's post (waaay down near the bottom) made me realize that I'm not the only one to have experienced a relapse of the Clap.

Block, blocking away...

12 of 24 done. Note the difference in size between the blocked and unblocked squares. It's taking a while, because I've only got one piece of styrofoam.

Next up: considering the placement. This may well take longer than the blocking...

Iro Bolero

I have a Noro problem. It's true. I love their yarns. For someone like me who is fairly cautious about colour, the Noro yarns provide an easy way to introduce some fun colour into your knitting (and wardrobe). Let the genius of Noro choose the colour combinations for you.

Noro Iro is one of their greatest yarns - not just because of the colours - but because it feels softer than many, and it's chunky, so it knits up quickly and easily. It's not the cheapest of their yarns, so I knew that whatever I did with it had to be economical about yarn.

I worked up this bolero design - inspired by a piece I keep seeing around - to create a high-impact piece that keep yarn usage to a minimum. And I love it.

It's a great first sweater project, suitable for newer (or just impatient!) knitters.

Substitute any yarn that knits to 12 sts/4 inches, and you need only 240-360 yds of yarn, depending the size. It's top-down, so you can work it as long as you like - or until you run out of yarn, making it an ideal stash-buster. And you don't even need to make a buttonhole - at that gauge, just push the button through a hole in the fabric!

Pattern available on Patternfish and Ravelry.



The eagle-eyed may notice that this is similar to some other bolero patterns out there. It's true - this ain't exactly an original idea. I, naturally, think mine is better! One of the key reasons is that I've made the edgings harmonious - it's k1 p1 ribbing all the way through, rather than a somewhat visually disruptive garter edge at the fronts.

The Matador Variation Mark II

This time using Noro Iro. Worked top down so I could make the most out of the two skeins of Iro.


Again, the edging is different from the original pattern, and it's longer, but otherwise it's the same cropped raglan fastening-less short-sleeve cardi thingy. I guess Bolero would be the right word.

(I really do think that if you're doing the top and bottom edges in K1P1, to do the front edges in garter looks a little odd. I worked the first and last 4 stitches of the row in a K1 P1 K1 P1 pattern, and it creates a nice, neat, fairly subtle non-rolling edge that harmonizes with the top and bottom edges.)

Found this online, and it's basically what I did -- a top down Matador. Again, it has the garter ridges at the front. Would it be churlish to wonder which design came first?

This Iro version needs a different name, I think... the Pinch Hitter, perhaps? We've got relatives visiting from overseas, and we attended the obligatory baseball game today. The last third or so was knitted at the game, and by the time we left I was wearing it.

On a different note, this now leaves Transitions as the only current Noro yarn I haven't worked with... Hmmm....

Look Ma, I'm Blocking!

Lizard Ridge squares, a new packet of safety pins and the styrofoam from a computer monitor. Blockin' away!

Also, because I do keep a promise

Clearer pics of the Matador. As promised.

Just in time for the weather to improve...

Pimlico is done.

Finishing it was a bit of a chore. Oh, how I complained. There was even some whining and moaning. The ribbing around the edge seemed to go on for ever.... 400+ sts in k3 p3 ribbing around and around and around and around and... you get the idea. (Perfect for car knitting actually.)

But you know, I think it's absolutely worth it. It's a really interesting shape, and is rather fun to wear. I did it with 6 skeins of Lamb's Pride, adjusting the stitch counts downward a bit to match the gauges.

The yarn is much rougher, much more organic if you will, than the yarn the pattern calls for. It changes the look of the finished piece fairly radically from the originally, but I like it very much. It is, as the pattern, promises, clearly inspired by -- and as comfortable as -- a big sloppy cardigan, but it's got genuine style and impact.

If you're facing lots of long car/train/bus/boat/balloon journeys, or a period of house arrest, or a case of chicken pox, and are looking for a good project to keep you entertained, I highly recommend it.

My Socks Have Been On TV!

Amy rocked on Breakfast Television talking about No Sheep For You yesterday, and my socks were featured.

Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting Show

There was less actual knitting than I'd hoped, but lots of variations on the concept of lace.

The most immediately amusing (and knitterly) piece was a traditional Shetland lace shawl, in a lovely off-white wool, with a nice traditional edging. The centre of the shawl was a garter square, with "It sucks" spelt out in yarnovers.

It did rather feel like the show was really two different smaller shows jammed together. There were four or five things I'd describe as subversive knitting, and the rest qualified as lace - radical or otherwise.

The interesting thread with lace is the inherent contradiction in the different materials and methods -- often very substantial, heavy, or hard -- being used to simulate the lightness, delicacy, flexibility of lace. A lacy scuplture constructed of whitewashed found objects, like shelving and fenceposts. Lacy patterns cut into scrap metal. A light fixture created from fibre-optic light filament bobbin lace. Or in a different direction, equally arresting in its inherent contradiction, garments constructed from paper lace doilies.

I was captivated by one particular piece -- a deconstructed carpet reconstructed with staples. From a distance, it just looked like a very worn carpet, but close up you could see that most -- but not all -- of the fabric had been supplemented or outright replaced with staples. Hard to describe, but take my word for it, it's magnificent. My husband was particularly amused by the "tiles" made of chocolate and melted winegums that had lace designs pressed into them.

I chatted to a couple of other visitors, who once again confirmed my theory of the generation gap in handcrafts. A woman the age of my mother looked almost offended when I asked her if she knitted. "Oh, no, no. I'm just here with my daughter. She knits."

Surrounding the Knitting Table in the basement -- because what's an art show without an interactive component? -- was a series of photographs depicting knitterly topics, rendering in knitting. The most startling to me was a WWII-era photograph of women knitting what can only be described as grenade cozies, wrappers for grenades that were destined to be coated with a sticky substance so that they would adhere to their chosen targets.

But as a knitter, I have to say that the single most amazing thing there was the display of Althea Merback's knitted miniatures. Micro-knitted sweaters and gloves worked with silk thread on filed-down medical needles. 1/12th scale. These are teeny tiny garments... featuring fair isle and intarsia. I swear I might have fainted. For those brave souls, you can actually visit Althea's site and order patterns and needles to create your own miniatures. This is the ultimate triumph of the process vs. the product knitter (more on which later).

Off to NYC for a Long Weekend/While I'm Away

"Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting"... yes, that describes my weekends, but it's also the name of an exhibition currently running at New York's Museum of Arts and Design.

I am very excited about this. I shall take my needles.

Yeah, Well, That Didn't Work...

It did, sorta.

I carefully unravelled the picked up sts joining the sleeves to the body of the shrug, and it worked fine. I wasn't happy, however, with my reverse engineered cast-off. And perhaps more to the point, I wasn't happy with the decrease I'd done.

In modifying the pattern, I'd had to turn what had been an increase round to get k2 p2 ribbing to turn into k3 p3 into a decrease round to turn k3 p3 ribbing into k2 p2. I wanted a centred, non-slanting decrease. I made something up, a kind of fudged m1-centered 2 st decrease hybrid monster.

After some consideration, I ripped the two sleeves back and started again. Probably unnecessary, but hey, if I wasn't going to be happy with it, I wouldn't have worn it... The good news is that it's a quick knit, only 10 inches of ribbing in all for each sleeve. What's taking longer is the k3 p3 ribbing on the 400+ sts of the edging. SLOOOOOOOOOW....

The Pimlico Sleeve, Pre-surgery

Wish me luck. I'm going to carefully cut it out, fiddle a cast-off and sew it back in the other way around.

(Why all the trouble? Because of this.)

Clapotis, Redux

I had to start it, just to make sure it was going to be ok for my trip to NYC. Really, I was just checking.

I shall now return to my previously scheduled Pimlico to keep me distracted between now and then.

On Seasonality/The Clap Returns

The weather has turned nice. It likely won't last -- it is only late March, and there's time for one more cold snap before spring has well and truly settled in.

It's interesting how the weather affects attitudes towards knitting. Many times I've heard "oh no, I can't knit now that the weather is so nice." "Knitting is for winter."

It's true that once the weather gets truly hot, to sit with a large piece of wooly fabric on your lap can be uncomfortable. And even handling mohair in July and August is not a good idea. But I find the idea of knitting seasons a bit strange. If I'm working on a sweater in the summer I know it will be ready to wear on the first cool day of fall. Socks and lace are year-round. And scarves? Well, I've taken to knitting narrow little scarves in slubby silk or interesting textured yarns, and they're entirely appropriate for wearing with a jean jacket or light spring coat.

Which brings me to the topic of Clapotis. Recall my Clapotis, in a marvellous heavy wool, silk and mohair mix from Noro. This is definitely wintry. In the past couple of days, I've found myself craving one in a lighter yarn, for spring.

And in one of those confluence of events that make me think it's meant to be, I've fallen in love with the perfect yarn for it....

I was on a multicoloured sock yarn binge last year... which resulted in four really great pairs of multicoloured socks: a puddle-of-gasoline pair, a 1970s appliance pair (both Fleece Artist yarns), a Bee Stripe pair and a cheerful rainbow pair. This is all well and good, but I only wear coloured socks with boots -- and as above, boot season is over.

But then I saw Colinette's Jitterbug in Bright Charcoal. It's been bugging me for weeks. I love it, but I also don't want any more coloured socks right now. So I kept putting it back on the shelf, kept passing it by.

And then it occured to me. Clapotis in Jitterbug!

This shall be my travelling project for my trip to NYC over the Easter weekend.

Real Shetland Scarf

Blocked! I know I've said this before, but it never ceases to amaze.

Real Shetland yarn from real Shetland sheep, using real Shetland lace patterns and techniques.

Pattern will be available very shortly from my friends at Hopeful Farms. They'll be at the Knitter's Frolic in Toronto April 28th -- drop by to say hello to Michele and Gil and fondle their amazing yarns. What I love most about their yarns is that they're all undyed -- these are real sheep colours, and they come in a marvelous variety of shades, from the deepest chocolate brown to soft greys and beiges -- and all sorts of tweedy combinations.

On Graft

I feel about grafting the way I do about cleaning the bathroom. I avoid it when I can, I really don't like doing it... but have to acknowledge that the results are terrific.


(Now, I've never paid someone else to do my grafting, unlike my housework... but it's not a bad idea for a small business.)

Note the Vogue Knitting at hand. I don't really refer to it during the process, but it's a security blanket. I'd be nervous if it wasn't nearby.

This is the final phase of my lace scarf. I was aiming to be as true to Shetland patterns and techniques as possible. I used only Shetland lace patterns, and constructed the scarf in two halves, to be grafted together at the middle so that each end would be the same.

It's drying now, and it's looking pretty good if I do say so myself. Pics to follow.

Meme: 5 Things You Probably Don't Know About Me. The Knitting Version

A few weeks ago, I ignored being tagged for a meme, because I didn't want to stray from my chosen topic of knitting.

Norman got tagged for a meme this week, and although he didn't tag me, the topic got me thinking. Without further ado, then...

5 Things You Probably Don't Know About Me
1. I was taught to knit by my grandmother, the Hilda after whom this blog is named. She was a world-class knitter. This story remains sadly unconfirmed, but I recall her telling me that when she was a girl she used to earn a penny turning the heels of socks knitted by women in her neighbourhood. I believe it -- she was both mathematically and knittily gifted.

2. The first thing I remember knitting was a rectangle of garter stich in blocks of red, white, and blue. This would have been for the Silver Jubilee in 1977. I desperately wanted to make a Union Jack, but was gently discouraged by cooler heads. (You know, I'd probably avoid such an undertaking even now.) I proudly took it to school for a show-and-tell, and was devastated when the teacher remarked that it was an accurate recreation of a French flag.

3. Because Hilda never managed to teach me to crochet properly, I also used to create endless crochet chains. I remember a particularly long purple one. I must have been a serious tripping hazard.

4. My husband doesn't have a single thing knitted by me. Not one. He occasionally wears my Handmaiden Cashmere toque, but repeatedly rejects my offers to knit him his own.

5. My first designs were colourwork variations on existing patterns. I recall a cardigan in blocks of colour, and a circus-themed baby sweater in red and blue: the sleeves were striped and the body was polka dotted. It was pretty terrific, if I do say so myself. And then there's the penguin sweater -- a traditional native Canadian bulky cardigan -- but instead of a duck or a tractor on the back, I charted out a penguin design. These were also my last intarsia designs... you couldn't pay me to do intarsia now.

Mistakes I Have Made/Lace Design Underway

What on earth made me think I could knit lace on my way to work this morning, before the coffee could really kick in? Not the best idea. There was ripping back.

Have finished my secret commission, am now back working on a lace design for my friends at Hopeful Farms. This will be available in April.

It never fails to amaze me what happens to lace when you block it. Blocked sample, and scarf in progress.

See? Is that not cool?

Trico-Dico

I'm taking a refresher course in French, through my employer.

My classes are Fridays, so invariably the instructor asks what my plans are for the weekend. "Tricot" was about all I knew... and she doesn't knit so we were both struggling for the vocabulary.

Thanks to V. who is in my Thursday class, I have found the answer... Tricotin, a French language knitting site. The "Trico-Dico" is an astonishingly complete list of knitting terms in French and English.

Merci bien, V.!

On Deadline(s)

You're not seeing much of my knitting here at the moment. Trust me, I am knitting. Like a fiend. I'm working on a design commission which shall remain secret for now.

The deadline is tight, there is a lot of knitting to be done between now and March 15th. I normally knit a lot -- on my commute, in the car (when hubby is driving, naturally), at home in front of the TV. I usually get a couple of hours of knitting done in an evening, most evenings. And on the weekends during the day, I knit for an hour or two. I knit during social events, too.

This design commission has caused me to radically increase my knitting hours... I've basically been on house arrest during the weekends, setting my alarm in the morning, knitting all day and all evening.

Now, I will accept that a knitting deadline is different from a writing deadline. You can't devour an entire season's box set of Criminal Minds while writing. You can't write while out with friends for drinks. You can't hold a meaningful phone conversation while writing. But knitting is still work. Work that requires you to sit still, in the same place for long periods of time.

And working I am. Oh yes. Knitting, knitting, knitting, knitting.

I can't wait for March 15th to arrive.

But here's the thing... it's not that I want the work to be over... quite the opposite. I can't wait to share my work with the lovely people who commissioned it. And I can't wait to move on to my next commission. I've already got two more "work" projects lined up for after the 15th, and I'm practically salivating to get onto them.

I guess this really is what they mean when they say that you should do what you love, huh?

Strange Places to Find a Cable Needle

Ok, knitters... 'fess up... I bet you've all misplaced a tool and found it later in an odd place, no?

Me, I'm always losing stitch markers, and those typically show up on the floor, down the sides of the sofa, occasionally stuck to my socks.

And last week I lost my plastic darning needle ... but found it again last night tucked into my copy of Volume 2 of Barbara Walker. It's exactly the same shade of red; I was using it as a bookmark.

But this takes the cake. Hubby came home last night, and I put down my knitting to greet him (working on a super secret project right now, all I'll say is that it requires a cable needle). When I went to restart, I couldn't find my cable needle. Gone. Just gone. I looked on the sofa and in the cushions and on the floor and under the coffee table and in my shirt.

(A brief digression: I've been known to hook a u-shaped cable needle in the neckline of my shirt -- very handy on a plane, for example. This is all well and good, but does earn you strange looks from the customs agents at Heathrow if you forget to take it out.)

As I was getting ready for bed a bit later, hubby remarked that there was something odd dangling from the back of my underwear... and there was the cable needle. I suspect I was trying to put it in my jeans pocket, but missed.

The Matador Variation

Quick 'n' easy 'n' enormously gratifying.... the Matador bolero from last fall's Interweave Knitscene mag.

Not content to leave well enough alone, I used Needful Van Dyck rather than the recommended yarn, and I messed with the edging...

The original pattern calls for garter edging for the fronts. Frankly, I felt like it was fighting with the eyelet detail on the raglan when I did it up in the plainer yarn. Garter to me is a rougher, more organic stitch, and eyelets require something a bit finer. Well, ok "finer" is relative here, we're still talking about a fairly "rough" yarn (in a good way), very chunky, and a seriously casual design.

I used a 4 stitch k1 p1 ribbing for the front edging, and it works tremendously well in this context. It doesn't look ribbed, as it pulls in -- which also means that it lies flat rather than curling. Very happy with how it turned out.

And no buttonhole, I just jam the button through a hole in the knitting.

Plus plain black provides a nice sartorial contrast to all the Noro I've been working with. Anyone who knows me well knows that I don't wear more than one colour at the same time -- with the exception of Noro products -- so a black bolero will look great over coloured tshirts in the spring. (You know, those days when I want to to be warmer than it actually is!)

(Squint hard at the picture and you should be able to make it out. I'll take a picture with a different tshirt in the near future.)

New Teaching Schedule

Check out the Lettuce Knit website for my upcoming teaching schedule.

I'm adding a couple of new classes to my repetoire: Cables 101 and Entrelac 101.

Cables 101 is a 2 hour boot camp to let beginner knitters in on the dirtiest knitting secret in the world: cables are easy!

Entrelac 101 untangles the mysteries of this marvellous technique -- previously considered to be the province of the knitting eccentric -- put to excellent use with Noro's Silk Garden -- as below. After 2 2-hour sessions, you'll have a fabulous scarf, and a killer new skill to be proud of.

It's Not a Bug, It's a Feature!

This is a commercial cardigan I bought recently (gasp!). It was in a clearance sale at an absurdly low price.


It's not colours I normally wear, and I'm not convinced I will ever wear it, but I had to bring it home and play with it.

I love love love what they've done with the Fair Isle. This is more than just not weaving in your ends, this is a deliberate and wanton display of the wrong side of the work.

Clever! How can I use this in my own designs? Hmmm....

Holy Sheep!

I received my contributor copy of No Sheep For You this week! I'm in it! Those are my sock designs! I'm SO excited, can you tell?

I spent a good few hours with the book this week, while hiding from the snow. The patterns are terrific, and there's a lot to be learnt from it about different types of yarns, their properties and applications.

Even if you're a dyed-in-the-wool woolhead (to coin a phrase), there's plenty to enjoy and learn.

And that's my name, in the table of contents, in very esteemed company.

Thanks Amy!

[thanks to Interweave for the pic from the book - photography (c) Interweave Press LLC]

A thought...

These are all my LR leftovers... is it just me, or is this screaming Entrelac?

Methadone for the Lizard Ridge Addict

Because a girl can't be expected to go entirely cold turkey on Noro....

I'm working on an entrelac scarf in Silk Garden. This is a design for a class I'll be teaching this spring. Stay tuned for details.

I'm using the same needles as LR, it's a similar technique, all short rows and turning, and it's Silk Garden which is even nicer to work with than Kureyon. So I'm doing ok.

On a different note, I discovered last night that it's impossible to knit lace and watch coverage of the Sporting Group in the Westminster Dog Show. Yes, it's true, we gloried in all the High Def production values of a televised dog show. All that cooing and oogling over the big adorable dogs with their giant paws make it impossible to concentrate on placement of yarn overs.

Is This It?

Number 24. Done. Some streetcar and car time in the last few days and now it's over.


I fear I might start going through withdrawal.

Not going to start the assembly process just yet, though. I've got a lace design brewing...

A few thoughts as I near the end of Lizard Ridge

(Halfway through the last square.)

I have seen two complete Lizard Ridges in person now... Jen's and Stephannie's. I didn't get a chance to spend significant time with Jen's, but was able to have a good ooh and aah over Steph's this week. She's finished it beautifully.

We discussed a few approaches to finishing. The thought of all that seaming and weaving in of ends is giving me hives... I worked it out today... 38 seams of about 30 cm each. That's 11 metres (or about 38 feet) of seaming.

Mum's suggested crocheting the pieces together, which would be infinitely quicker, but Steph did warn that it's a bit lumpy on the wrong side. She ended up sewing it together. She also used a knitted garter edge rather than crochet, and it's very effective. Plus I'm so much better at garter than crochet.

And on the issue of the bazillion ends, Mum suggested I simply not worry about it, and line the blanket instead. Something with a bit of texture, perhaps raw silk? Because 24 balls of Kureyon haven't made this project expensive enough, I should also buy several metres of silk.

Still... wow... just imagine how amazing that would be.

Number 23

Oh dear. Whatever will I do?

Oh yeah, there's all the sewing together and the edging...


Actually, they're all going to get put aside because I have a really great lace design underway. Pics soon!

Hey Denny! Are You Proud of Me?

Ends all woven in. My god, it's dull work.


The pattern will be available at The Naked Sheep as of Friday.

Khroma Vest - The Pros and Cons of Colour Work

I like it!

It's a bit big on me, by design. It's a shop sample, and it will fit the mannequin a bit better -- and also possibly Lorena who, by virtue of owning the shop, gets to wear the samples. It's always a big compliment when she wears something I've done.

This, however, is the downside of colour work...


The ends.... oh, the ends....

Weavin' away.